Vehicle-wheel.



E. S. FREY.

VEHICLE WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10. 1908.

Patented Jan. 17,1911.

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2 BHEETSSHEET 1.

ATTORNEYS E. S. FREY.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED 11011.10, 190a.

Patented Jan. i7,1911.

WITNESSES -1 7/05 74 s 29 l I? I I I ATTORNEYS ERWIN S. .'FREY,' 0I ENEW YORK, N. Y.

q VEHICLE-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 17, 1911.

Application filed November 10, 1908. Serial No. 461,944.

To all whom it may concern:

lfie 1t known that I, ERWIN S. FREY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVehicle-lVheels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates more particularly to a vehicle wheel employed inconnection with automobiles.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a wheel which willdispense with the pneumatic feature thereof, and still have theresiliency of a pneumatic tire without the object-ions incident theretoin which the usual wheel is liable to puncture and collapse, and whichforms a very expensive part of automobiles and other vehicles.

A further object of the invention is to providesimple and efficientmeans by which the tread of the wheel may be resilientlyconnected to thewheel in such a way that it will give in various directionswithout'straining or injuriously affecting the parts holding said tread.

Vith these and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinaftermore particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification, and will then be pointed out inthe claims at the end of the description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation. partly broken away, ofone form of wheel embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlargedfragmentary section showing how the two relatively movable members areheld together. Fig. 3 is a transverse section, partly in elevation,taken on a line III-III of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectionalplan view.

The wheel may have the usual hub 10 from which projects radiallyarranged spokes 11, to which may be held in any desired way a rim, fellyor inner member 12. This member 12 may be provided with radiallyarranged slots 13 through which project one end 1 1 of radially arrangedrods, bolts or devices 15 forming a part of the supporting devices 16which serve to hold the tread member 17 normally concentric with thefelly or member 12. The tread member 17 may have a rubber or otherwearing part 18 which is solid, and is provided with a dovetailedportion 19 which fits into an annular groove in .the rim 20. This-rim 20is re- I cessed at intervals around the surface thereolts are eachscrew-,

threaded for a part of their length, as at 22.

so as to be engaged by a'nut 23. This nut 23 clamps a cup-s aped deviceor member '24:

inner surface of the rim 20, and serves to rigidly hold said cup-shapeddevice 24 and" washer as well as the bolt 15 to said rim so as to beradially arranged with respect'therespring 26 has one end fitting withinto. A the cup-shaped device 24, and its oth'erend held in the cup-shapeddevice 27 which is opposed to the device 24 and'isheldin any desiredway-to the outer surface of the felly or member 12.- The cup-shapeddevicev 24 moves with its bolt 15 and said bolt 15-passes through anelongated opening 27 in the cup;-

shaped device27 so that as the wheel rotates under load, the spring 26will yield and give the proper resiliency'to the tread mem-' ber, eachof said springs being of suflicient tension to properly support thetread mem ber.

To avoid straining the rods orbolts l5 and give theproper yieldingelfect to the tread member, I make the slots 13 elongated, Figs. 2 and4, so that the rods 15 may move axially or lengthwise of the felly'ineither direction according to the direction the wheel is rotated. Therod 15 is held normally centrally of the slot or opening 13, andengaging each of said posts or rods 15 on each side thereof is a device28, the said lower end 14 of the rod 15 being flattened somewhat toadapt the device 28'to readily engage therewith. These devices 28 arearranged in pairs for each rod 15, and are each provided with a head 29adapted to engage the lower part 14 of said bolt or post, and isprovided with astem port on 30 which projects through and is slidinglyheld in an opening in the member or felly 12. At one end of the stem 30is a cup-shaped part 31 which is opposed to the cup-shaped part of themember or device adjacent thereto and between these two opposedcup-shaped deagainst a' washer 25 which rests against the;

vices is a spring 33. The spring 33 and oupshaped devices 31 arearranged in openings 34 in the felly, and the cup-shaped parts or heads31 normally rest against the radial walls 35. As will be seen the treadmember will yield when it meets obstructions and for the spring 34 whilethe devices on the oppo- I tire' cylindrical or they or lengthwise wordsall of the devices on the same side of other'reasons, and as it yieldscertain of the rods 15 will have to move peripherally or about the axisof the wheel. The rods 15 are permitted to move in the slots 13 axiallythereof, and one of the devices 28 on each rod will yield by reason ofsite sides will remain stationary.

In other the posts or rods 15 will yield to the more i ment of the treadmember when the wheel is rotated in one direction while the other delvices on the opposite sides of the rods will 1 yield when the wheel isrotated in the oppo- 1 site direction, thus permitting the wheel to lhave a proper resilient effect and serving to l hold the tread member inits proper relation l to the member or felly l2 and overcoming l anyshearing efiect or injury that might be l done to the rods 15. l TheWorking parts for producing the resilient effect may be protected byannular l bands or plates 36 and 37 located on opposite 1 sides of thewheel and which provide an annular chamber for the devices 16. Theseplates 86 and 87 may be curved to make the may be curved'to produce theshape shown best in Fig. 3, and each plate may be provided with aninturned end 38 adapted to be inserted under the rubber tread part 18over the member 20,

and each plate has its inner part bent or formed as at 39, to slideagainst the marstridwheel is portion ginal walls 40 of the telly 12. I

From the foregoing it will be seenthata simple and efiicient vehiclewheel is pro- Vided in which substantially the'same etlect as in apneumatic tire may be secured; that so constructed and has its tread soheld that the tire may be made to have the appearance of the usual pneugmatic tire, and that simple and etlicient means are provided foriholdingthe tread member yieldingly to the inner member and for properlysupporting the same.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with an innermember and an outer tread member, of means for connecting the treadmember yieldingly tothe inner. member and including, aplurality of rods,said inner member having elongated openings for said rods, devicesextending from opposite sides of each rod loosely mounted in said innermember comprising a head a part of said rod, a stem portion slidinglyheld in the inner member and a cup-shaped portion at the opposite end ofsaid stem, and

portion engagmg' springs interposed between the opposed cupshaped endsof said devices.

In a vehicle wheel, the combination with an inner member and an outertread member, of means for supporting the tread member yieldingly to theinner member, devices extending from opposite sides of each treadsupporting means loosely mounted 1n said inner member comprising a headportion engaging a part of said tread supporting means, a stem portionslidingly held in the inner member and at the opposite end of said stem,and springs interposed between the opposed cup-shaped ends ofsaid-devices This s ecification signed and witnessed this 7th ay ofNovember A. D. 1908.

ERVVIN S. FREY.

Witnesses:

W. A. TowNER, Jr., E. KRANCER.

a cup-shaped portion

